 Okay, so the first idea I want you to think about and I always talk about is because it's so important is Defending from the front. Okay, even though you're a forward you have defending Responsibilities and I want you to enjoy defending because that's gonna make your life a lot easier But the first thing I want you to think about is pressing These defenders, okay, especially in youth soccer Mainly the defenders don't have as good skill or confidence on the ball as midfielders and Forward's okay, so if you pressure these guys you force them to make a decision a lot of times They're gonna give the ball up one of your teammates is gonna get it They might even take too long on the ball you can win possession way up in the attacking third Or they're gonna boot it up the ball boot it up the field Maybe they boot it out of bounds or they kick it up and one of our center halves comes and wins it And then we get possession of the ball and we can play the right way Okay, but that will never happen if you lay off and you let them play because you're a forward and you don't defend Okay, so whenever you have the chance chase these guys down and if you can work in numbers Okay, remember I'm not just gonna run straight at him. I'm gonna try to cut off a passing angle I'm gonna try to cut off a passing angle and hopefully our midfielders are doing the same Okay, if it's played in here, I'm gonna press I'm gonna press Okay, work hard up front because if you can win the ball in this area It's much better than your team winning it back here and starting from the back You can start from the front and you can hurt them in a two on two situation or three on two Okay, the other thing is When you have the chance to press the keeper go for it. I can't tell you how many goals I've scored simply by chasing down on the keeper and forcing him to make a clearance Okay, a lot of times if you're at him quick and he panics Maybe he's a right footer and you can force him on to his left foot He's gonna panic. He might shank it off you you keep possession or even better It goes right off you into the goal. I can't tell you how many goals I've scored like that Especially in indoor just by pressing the keeper. So think about that Okay, the next thing I want you to think about is finding space on That on that offside line like right on the backs of the defenders Okay, so let's say Our player has the ball in here Okay, focusing on this forward here. Okay a lot of times Forwards are always going short to get the ball. There's nothing wrong with going short But I want you to mix up your place So sometimes you go short sometimes you go long and when you're going long you're really looking to find space in between The two center halves or in between the full back and the center half So what you want to do is try to peel away now a lot of times Defenders or everyone in the field is looking at the ball so instead of you going close to the ball you want to peel away from the ball and Create a little space for yourself. So as he closes boom We can clip this ball into the space like that or he plays a really good ball into here You can run on to it or even into this space here and you run on to that if you want 12 weeks of in-depth coaching Covering every area of player development daily follow-along training routines to improve your skills fitness and confidence 12 weeks of professional match analysis and access to every advanced course I've created in the past Check out the link in the description below. Okay, but you want to think about getting on that line on Almost off-side. Okay, because this is where you're really gonna get that head start And yes, sometimes you may be off-side But if you practice it enough and you get your head up you're watching the line Okay, making eye contact with the player on the ball. He knows you want it to play These guys are slowly coming to close you in a lot of cases This ball goes over the top or like I said in the space and you're off On a breakaway or at least in a really good goal scoring or crossing Situation okay, so the other thing like I said, yes, you have to switch it up So sometimes maybe these guys are tracking you really good. They're not giving you the opportunity to run in there What are you gonna do? You're gonna try to drop in between the lines between the midfielders and the defenders so Yes, we want to play on that high line. We want to try to get in behind. We want to make those runs all day But when it's not working or you just want to switch it up I want you to drop in in these areas here because if you can receive this passing here and The defenders don't close you down right away. They give you a bit of space This is very dangerous because hopefully your teammates are making a forward runs like this And then we can clip these little balls in between like this behind the lines and you become that playmaker You become like the number 10 attacking midfielder and then they play into here And then obviously after you play your pass you want to get in the box Okay, maybe even this ball is played into here you get half-turned and you can play a ball wide This guy's going in for a cross. You're coming back in Trying to get into that type of area Okay, the last thing I want you to think about is being very direct With your run so this is more in like crossing situations or balls being played into your box Into their box I should say Okay, a lot of times let's say the winger is in a good opportunity to cross the ball a lot of times Strikers are just hanging out in here. What I want you to think about is being very direct Give him something to hit. Okay, give him an option. So be direct with your run either make a direct run to the near post So you can get a little flick on the goal or get a direct run peeling off to the back post So we can clip ball and you can get a header or a volley Okay, but don't just stand there like if you're gonna go in here like lots of times Strikers getting here and they're just standing there. They're waiting for something to pop up rather than being direct rather than making something happen for themselves so if you are gonna hang back what you want to think about is checking into here and then Dropping off so you have a little bit of space and then he can play this back pass cut the ball back